Proton Holdings Berhad and Tournament Director, Nick Freyer are excited to announce the inaugural event has secured it’s first ever title sponsor and the event’s name is going to change.
The new sponsor is an all-Malaysian stock exchange listed company adding even more importance to the tournament for the nation.
“I am just so thrilled to say that the national automobile of Malaysia, PROTON, is the new title sponsor and the event will now be known as the Proton Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur 2009,” said Freyer. “This is a fantastic moment for your nation’s Championship and to have such a big and important Malaysian company backing the event makes all the hard work even more worthwhile.
“Proton is a highly respected international company that exports motor vehicles all over the world. From Asia to Australia and from Africa and the Middle East to Europe, Proton cars are visible, and here in Malaysia it is the leader. It is a brand and product that will be seen even more around the globe as the Proton Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur 2009 will be viewed on television and the Internet by an audience expected to exceed 250 million people. “However, it is right here that this household name and logo will be seen the most, from the signage around the court, the city and the nation through to the comprehensive marketing materials to the tournament cars that will be criss-crossing KL, transporting the tennis stars of the ATP World Tour to various locations and destinations.”
The stars steering their way to KL include Nikolay Davydenko, Fernando Verdasco, Fernando Gonzalez, Robin Soderling, Gael Monfils, Lleyton Hewitt, David Ferrer, Tomas Berdych, Richard Gasquet and so many more.
“The players coming to KL are going to be such great ambassadors for the Proton Malaysian Open Kuala Lumpur,” Freyer added. “The business end of a Grand Slam starts in the last 16 and at the US Open we had five players reach that stage – Soderling, Davydenko, Verdasco, Gonzalez and Monfils with three of those guys making the quarters, Soderling Gonzalez and Verdasco.
“Monfils and Gonzalez had tight, close battles with Nadal in consecutive rounds and Verdasco had Djokovic is all sorts of trouble while Soderling really had Federer under pressure the longer their match went. Earlier in the event Lleyton Hewitt was the first player to take a set of Federer so all the guys will be arriving in good form and that will add to the excitement of the tournament.”
The Chairman of PROTON Holdings Berhad, Dato' Mohd. Nadzmi Mohd. Salleh sees this new relationship as one that expands the company’s community spirit and their involvement in sports here in Malaysia and overseas. It also highlights the fact that Proton is serious about their initiative to reach back to the community.
“Proton is one of the largest domestic investor in Malaysia with an employee base of about 12,000 people,” Dato' Mohd Nadzmi Mohd Salleh said. “We sponsor projects that support sustainability, tourism and international relations, and to us the Malaysian Open Kuala Lumpur fitted the criteria in every aspect.
“At Proton the brand is the most valuable asset for all enterprises in the Group. Our core business, automobiles, appeals to families and tennis is a sport for all generations and families. The fit suited us very well and we are very proud to be associated with an event that will bring people together and will provide fun, excitement and entertainment.
The Group Managing Director of PROTON Holdings Berhad, Dato' Haji Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir said Proton is a company that believes in social responsibility as vital element in the success of a business. The company also has sponsorship links to the A1 Malaysia motor racing, badminton, cycling and rugby league football.
“Our company likes to challenge the conventional and we are always looking forward to new and better ways to advance and see changes as opportunities,” Dato' Haji Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir added. “Sponsoring tennis is a new and exciting opportunity and venture for us and with the tournament’s global outreach, we are in the opinion that the Proton Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur will further enhance the recognition of the Proton brand on a global scale.
“Like everyone else, we are looking forward to seeing great stars from the men’s international circuit here in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysian tennis and sports fans will finally get a chance to see great names like Hewitt, Davydenko and Verdasco up close. It is going to be a very exciting week.”
Proton is the only full-fledged car manufacturer in the country commanding a substantial share of the domestic market for passenger cars. Over the years, it has been building distribution networks into key markets across the four regions of South East Asia, the Middle East, United Kingdom, China and Australia and has invested RM8 billion into the local economy. It also invests extensively into the research and development of their products and
has a production capacity of 350,000 units, spanning two states in Malaysia.
Brad Drewett, CEO of the ATP World Tour International Group office congratulated the tournament on the great news. He said: “The ATP World Tour would like to welcome Proton into the tennis family. Their sponsorship of the Malaysian Open, will lead to a long and mutually beneficial partnership that will ensure the success of the tournament for many years to come”.
During the entire week of the tournament one of the stylish cars will be on display on a raised platform courtside and that will be seen on television all over Malaysia and around the world. The live TV coverage will be extensive with all Centre Court singles matches being covered by Astro and or RTM every day from Thursday. That will amount to over 25 hours of live Malaysian television broadcasting.
Adding to the excitement of Proton coming on board as the title sponsor, Nick Freyer announced that one very lucky fan will win a Proton car on one of the last three days of the Proton Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur 2009. On either Friday 2nd October, Saturday 3rd October or Sunday 4th October, during one of the sessions of play when there will be a “Catch the Super Golden Ball” activity. A Proton car will be won by a fan who catches that special golden ball hit by one of the ATP World Tour players after a Centre Court match. Fans must be there to claim the fantastic prize.
But the fun does not stop there. Every day, after every match on Centre Court, signed tennis balls will be hit into the stands by the match winning player and whomever catches those balls will not only keep the autographed ball, but be able to claim one of hundreds of high value prizes.
And the prizes don’t stop there. There is also a weekend stay at the Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur to give away. The coin toss experience promotion, which will enable 15 lucky winners to come on-court and conduct the coin toss procedure with players before featured matches throughout the week, will see one lucky fan win a Grand Prize of an all expense paid trip to China, in January, to watch Maria Sharapova live in action.
There will also be three fantastic Philips televisions (to include one state of the art 47 inch giant and two 32 inch screens) to be won as well as Wilson tennis racquets and a host of other gifts such as Starbucks coupons, free finals weekend premium tickets, boxes of Krispy Kreme doughnuts, cases of Gatorade and more. To top it off, there will be daily giant Wilson ball “feeds” to fans seated on Centre Court throughout the week.
The total value of prizes is in excess of an incredible RM150,000 (USD43,000). All the activities will take place against music and fanfare for what should be a fantastic atmosphere of tennis entertainment never before seen in Malaysia.
The Proton Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur 2009 is going to be an absolute bonanza and a tremendous week of fun, entertainment, excitement and some remarkable tennis played by some of the best players in the world ... the stars of the ATP World Tour.
(Source: IMG)
